Nature is one of Australia's biggest economic assets. It's time we started acting like it.
We have provided a briefing note to the upcoming Environment Ministers’ Meeting. At this meeting, the Federal Environment Minister and environment ministers from each state and territory set shared national priorities and coordinate action across jurisdictions.
Our briefing note outlines the most pressing issues facing nature in Australia and the opportunities for governments to respond.
A key concern is Australia's continued underinvestment in nature. Nearly half of Australia’s GDP depends on healthy natural systems yet environmental decline continues and Australia remains among the world's worst performers for species extinction. All the while Federal government spending on nature remains less than 0.1% of the Federal budget, and the economic impacts of nature loss are rarely considered in national productivity and economic planning.
The briefing also calls for greater investment in wildlife resilience. The recent Commonwealth commitment of $20 million bird flu package falls well short of what is needed to build wildlife resilience in the face of this escalating threat. ALCA is urging increased funding to safeguard threatened species and ensure states and territories are not left carrying the burden of response to a national wildlife crisis.
The briefing note also calls the urgent development of a National Restoration Framework to guide and accelerate restoration efforts across Australia. Despite commitments under Australia's Strategy for Nature, there is still no national framework to support restoration at scale, nor is there the co-investment needed to deliver Australia's biodiversity and net zero goals.
Download the briefing note for detailed recommendations.
